State Policy and the Cultural Politics of Heritage-Making in East and Southeast Asia

Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 16-17 Jan 2014

Application Deadline: 15 July 201

This conference examines the ambivalent and critical relation of the state to heritage. The multiple arenas of the state, where policies related to the governance of heritage are debated, formulated, legislated and enforced, will be subjected to critical examination. For instance, what is the legal framework governing the preservation of heritage? How does the state bureaucracy(ies) frame and administer heritage sites -- material and immaterial? Do governments have a penchant for privileging material heritage to the detriment of the socio-cultural life revolving around sites, leading to their gentrification and therefore social exclusion? Conversely, what is the meaning of the recent focus by numerous Asian states on “intangible” heritage (e.g. food, dance, etc.)? On a related front, while tourism contributes to the commercial sustainability of heritage, how does it augment its meaning in the national landscape as sanctioned by the state? The conference will also look at the different modalities of state-centered politics that complicate policy framing and execution over time, as heritage itself evolves in the nexus of the competing claims of state and non-state actors, locally and internationally.

With these issues in mind, we invite papers looking into the following themes:
Neoliberalism, the state and heritage
Heritage and representing the nation
Heritage governance: legal framework and administration
Policies and sustainability
Tourism and heritage sites
Memory and identity in vernacular landscapes
Politics of language
Heritage diplomacy

Papers can engage or compare the more general discursive contexts of nation-states in East and Southeast Asia, or focus on the heritage politics of major cities in these regions.

Paper proposals should include a title, name of author, institutional affiliation, email address, an abstract (250 words) and a brief personal biography (150 words). The proposal should be submitted by 15 July 2013 to Dr Hui Yew-Foong (yfhui@iseas.edu.sg). Successful applicants will be notified by 15 August 2013 and will be required to send in a completed draft paper (5000 - 8000 words) by 15 December 2013.

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